10 things you need to know in markets today

A dike between two lakes
is seen under demolition in Wuhan, China.Reuters/CDIC

Good morning! Here's what you need to know in markets
on Friday.

Another devastating attack has hit France. At least
80 people were killed in the southern French city of Nice when a
truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national
holiday at around 10:30 p.m. local time on Thursday,
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
said.

Chinese
GDP grew more than expected.According to the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the economy grew by 6.7%
year-on-year in the June quarter, topping expectations for an
expansion of 6.6%. After seasonal adjustments, the economy
expanded by 1.8% during the quarter, again beating expectations
for growth of 1.6%. The increase in the March quarter, previously
reported at 1.1%, was revised up to 1.2%.

The Bank of England shocked markets by leaving interest
rates unchanged at 0.5%. At the Old Lady of
Threadneedle Street's first Monetary Policy Committee meeting
since Britain voted to leave the European Union, governor Mark
Carney and seven other members of the committee decided that
taking Britain's interest rate closer to zero is not yet the best
course of action to mitigate the economic risks posed by the UK's
Brexit decision. The Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 in
favour of leaving interest rates unchanged, with only notoriously
dovish Gertjan Vlieghe voting for a cut of 25 basis points.

The company behind Pokémon Go wants to release the game in
200 markets.The head of the developer behind
Nintendo's Pokemon Go said he wanted to launch the smash-hit
mobile game in roughly 200 countries and regions "relatively
soon" and was working on bolstering server capacity to enable the
wider rollout."Why limit it?" John Hanke, chief executive of
Niantic, said.

Asian stocks hit an eight-month high. Asian
shares rose to eight-month highs on Friday, on track for solid
weekly gains, as record highs on Wall Street offset the impact on
sentiment of an attack in France that lifted the safe-haven
yen.

The price of oil is slipping.Crude futures
fell in early trading in Asia on Friday as concerns about a
global oil glut returned to the fore and traders wait on data
from China, which is expected to report its lowest growth rate
since 2009.